How to get rid of love handles

A fifteen-year-old girl asks what she can do to get rid of love handles, as she passionately despises them. This set of our body parts we call love handles are known as external obliques. We all have these muscles; it is only the apparent prominence that differs. We all look different. Through genetics, some individuals have insignificant external obliques and the resulting appearance is that of a tiny waist line. Other individuals have distinct external obliquesand this gives them a square and blocky look.

Apart from genetics, the muscle can show prominently because of accumulation of fat or water retention. Body-builders gauge their fat and water accumulation by pinching the external oblique muscle. We can shape them or reduce their size through exercise and an ideal diet.

The set of our body parts we call love handles are known as external obliques

External obliques are part of the midsection. They are situated on both the left and right hand sides of the body, at the lower end of the trunk (midsection) and they tie-in to the hips. The muscles lie below the rectus abdominals (six pack).

Although some say the muscle has two dimensions, I think it has three dimensions. This is because it can be seen from the front, it can be seen from the sides and it can be seen from the back when one is extremely out of shape.

The idea that the external obliques are prominent could mean that one is carrying some excess weight and there is need to lose body weight to make them look smaller does not work. When someone with genetically big external obliques starts losing weight the love handles will become defined and as a result they will stand out.

From my own experience using resistance is the best way to shape and reduce the midsection including the external obliques. The resistance will assist in building some muscles beneath the fat, and since muscles occupy less space than fat, the area will look more defined and smaller.

However, there is a thin line between building and reducing, there is a need to exercise caution. Heavy weights and low repetitions will build the obliques and so will too frequent work outs on the area, while high repetitions and less frequent workouts will help to reduce and define them.

External obliques are involved when we do abdominal and waist movements. There are many direct and indirect exercises we can do to exercise them. However, there are three exercises I would recommend to be included in an ideal workout. These three exercises can hit them directly.

These exercises comprise the side bends exercise, leg raises and twists. Side bends works the oblique directly on the sides. There are various ways of doing them, using dumbbells, cables or without any weights at all. But I find using light dumbbells very effective. These work them mainly on the sides.

Leg raises are usually done with the lower abdominals in mind, but they also directly work the front external obliques. Then there are twists, a compound exercise which works them from all angles, the front, side and rear. There are many variations of the twist, one can do them with arms stretched with a bar or stick or one can work with a ball and an exercise, partner standing back to back and passing the ball.

All exercises that work the lower back will work them from the rear. It is recommended to have a balance when working on the midsection. This means working the abdominals and the lower back and waist with differing ratios of frequency.

Since the reader is a teenage girl, I would advise her to maintain a fitness-oriented lifestyle. There is need to engage in an activities that will help to burn the fat. For example badminton and tennis are sports that involve trunk twisting and cardiovascular endurance. Rowing is also another sporting activity that is reported to heavily involve external obliques.

The reader can also join a health spa. This also had me thinking that I rarely see groups of teenage girls in the gyms. Only groups of young boys' frequent gyms particularly during school holidays.

Why is it that girls shy away from exercise spas?

Is it fear of getting muscular?

If that is so, there is the aerobics and other activities that they can take part in. Or is it our mindset as parents that girls should stay away from exercise spas?

The Diet Issue

Our discussion this week is on the much hated food component, fat. Our bodies can be composed of two types of fat; body fat or dietary fat. Body fat is the necessary fat that our bodies make irrespective of what we consume.

Dietary fat is the fat that is produced out of excess protein and carbohydrates. This is stored and used when necessary. A gram of fat has two times the calories contained in a gram of protein or carbohydrate. We need to consume a bit of unsaturated fat found in vegetables, avocados and nuts because fats are the vehicle that carry the fat soluble vitamins; vitamins A, D, E and K into our bodies. The necessary fat also cushions our organs and provides the necessary body heat.

Generally the average woman should have more fat than the man. Female hormones are lipid based. The average body fat composition should be 18 to 24 percent for women and 14 to 18 percent for men. For athletes the ideal composition is 10 to 14 for women and 4 to 10 percent for men.

Our fat consumption though, should be around 15 percent maximum. Excess consumption of fat is bad especially the consumption of animal food and its products which comprises of the invisible saturated fat. Excess consumption of protein and carbohydrates is equally bad as this is also stored as fat and its use is only guaranteed when we get involved in prolonged rigorous physical exercise. This excess consumption of food and inactivity is the major cause of heart diseases. Although fat is stored throughout the body, the main storage areas are the stomach and the gluteus maxims.

I once heard of a study that is supposed to have revealed that the way the typical ancient African and the typical ancient Anglo Saxon's physiques were built was due to demographics.

It is said that the ancient Africans who lived in hot areas stored fat mainly in the abdomen and gluteus maxims. This fat was to be released as energy during their forages in hot areas.

The Anglo Saxons are also said to have stored fat mainly in the upper bodies in particular shoulders and calves. This would provide heat to the body during their forages in the cold, snowy areas, as these high and low areas are considered as the body's thermostats.

I do not know how credible these studies are, but from my own observation, without being racist, the majority of black body-builders have modest to low calf development and tiny waists, while the majority of white body-builders have big calf development and they also have wide waistlines .There are a number of exceptions to this of course.

Body-building judging now does not harshly punish the athlete with modest calf development that ties in well to the upper legs, and the judging does not punish the athletes with wide waist development as well. Those with obliques that show prominently are never punished for that as long as the muscle is defined. Remember this is just my observation.

Guest

I had a chat with Emmanuel Kadiwa, a fitness instructor who has been into fitness for quite some time. He is also very well known in the fitness circles. Kadiwa specialises in Zumba and step aerobics. He is also a karate instructor.

When I asked him why he specialises in Zumba and step, he said those were the most popular fitness trends that aerobics enthusiasts liked these days. Just like me, Kadiwa could not think of a logical reason as to why we as parents do not encourage teenage girls to join health spas.

He attributed this to our traditional way of thinking that only boys should be encouraged to be strong and learn about self defence. He indicated that a number of girls are involved in karate though. But very few, if any teenage girls are involved in weight training.

He thinks diet plays 70 percent and exercising 30 percent of the weight loss equation. He said the reduction in size of external obliques relies mainly on diet induced weight loss. He says weight loss should be applied evenly to the whole body rather than focus on particular parts of the body.

He said although the exercises they design as trainers benefit the participants in terms of lung and heart cardiovascular fitness, these exercises can only work in conjunction with an ideal diet to reduce body fat. He blamed refined blood sugar spiking carbohydrates for the overweight and obese trends that we are witnessing in the society today.

Kadiwa advises that it does not matter how much we exercise, if one does not follow a sensible diet no positive physical transformation will occur. It is difficult to tap into the fat reserves if one consumes excess food. We cannot separate the need to eat well and exercise in our quest to reduce weight.

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Email;innocentfchoga@gmail.com Innocent Choga is a six time National Bodybuilding Champion with international experience. He is studying for a science degree in Physical Education and Sport.